On January 30, 1997, the Texas Transportation Commission passed
Minute Order 107059 approving a private toll road to be financed,
constructed, and maintained by Camino Colombia, Inc. in Webb County
near Laredo, Texas.

The Camino Colombia Toll Road
was constructed and opened to traffic in October 2000. The
road begins near the Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge and
stretches just 22-miles east where it connects with Interstate 35.

Development of this $90
million dollar toll road was supported by local officials including
Webb County Commissioner Rick Reyes and State Representative Henry
Cuellar.

Similar to what has been
proposed for the Trans Texas Corridor, the Camino Colombia Toll Road
also offered ten landowners a shareholder position in the project.
By August of 2001 several of those landowners had become unhappy
with their agreements and brought suit against the toll road
company.

"Less than one year after the Camino Columbia
Toll Road opened, several landowners who joined the project have
filed lawsuits claiming the venture has not been what they
expected."—
Laredo Morning Times (August 24, 2001)

Every early projection
indicated that this toll road by-pass was very much needed to
provide Laredo relief from its severe traffic congestion. On its
opening day the Camino Colombia Toll Road could accommodate up to
7,000 trucks per day.

"A top Raytheon engineering official briefing
the Laredo Rotary Club Wednesday on the Camino Colombia Toll Road
project estimated the road would handle initial volumes of 1,500 to
1,800 vehicles per day."— Laredo Morning Times (February 26, 1998)

"Given projected 10 to 12 percent annual
growth, this is a conservative estimate, Robert Chesshir, manager of
engineering/transportation for Raytheon Engineering and
Constructors, added."—
Laredo Morning Times (February 26, 1998)

"Nowhere is the chronic congestion worse than
in Laredo - the busiest inland port in North America. More than 40
percent of all goods entering the US come through this city."— Christian Science Monitor
(November 20, 2000)

Not everyone was a fan of the
Camino Colombia Toll Road. At least one detractor attended a
Transportation Commission meeting in Austin on May 30, 2002 where
flyers were distributed.

"I also couldn't help but notice somebody passing out flyers, and I see some
of them scattered up and down here. I thought it was kind of funny, first of
all, they forgot to sign it so it's an anonymous flyer, and secondly, it says
"Toll Road to Hell" and I couldn't help but notice, I've been at each end of the
proposed toll road and it looked beautiful to me, and the regions and the
elected officials and the people of the area seem to strongly support it."—
Commissioner
Robert L. Nichols, Texas Transportation Commission Meeting (May 30, 2002)
[citation]

"Let's see here, it
says: "Politics as usual. The current basis for funding toll roads
seems to be based on politics. The example of Camino Colombia --
ooh, I like this -- promoted by switch-hitter Tony Sanchez,
appears to be a case study of political maneuvering." Uh-oh, wait
a minute, it's bad for my guys. "After a Laredo banker backed Ann
Richards and failed to get approval, he switched allegiance to
George W. Bush." What the hell is this? Guys got nothing better to
do than to do that stuff?"— Commissioner Ric
Williamson, Texas Transportation Commission Meeting (May 30,
2002) [citation]

"'Is building toll
roads with borrowed money a prudent business decision?' was a big
question on the thing. I felt like a reasonable answer should be
presented, and the answer is yes, very much so."— Commissioner
Robert L. Nichols, Texas Transportation Commission Meeting (May 30, 2002)
[citation]

Perhaps the Commission should
have paid more attention?

After three years of waiting,
the expected traffic never arrived. Drivers in large numbers refused
to pay the $3 per car and $16 per 18-wheeler truck toll. The road
only carried 13-percent of the traffic that had been projected to
use it.

Failed !

The Camino
Colombia Toll Road failed and the bondholders foreclosed on their
$75 million note.

The toll road was sold auction
style on the steps of the Webb County Courthouse Annex on January
6, 2004. John Hancock Financial Services Inc. bought back its
investment for $12.1 million. TxDOT had bid $11.1 million to
purchase the toll road. Today the future of the road is uncertain.

The Camino Colombia Toll Road
was a far, far less ambitious project than the Trans Texas Corridor.
With the advantage of severe congestion through Laredo and a 73-cent
per mile toll for trucks and 14-cent per mile toll for cars they
could not even reach break even.

An
equivalent toll on the Trans Texas Corridor between
San
Antonio and El Paso would cost $70 one-way per car and $365 one-way per 18-wheel
truck.